Women lawyers want better work-life balance

Women lawyers leave Am Law 200 firms for “thoroughly depressing” reasons, such as a lack of support from the firm in providing maternity leave or child care and the stress of meeting billable-hour targets, a new survey from legal intelligence provider Leopard Solutions finds.

The concerns are so deep that only 58% of the nearly 200 Am Law 200 women lawyers who participated in the survey would recommend a legal career to their daughter.

“For those who said no, the reasons cited were that they did not like what they were still experiencing—sexism. The same experiences their mothers had in the ’80s,” the report said.

Phil Flora, vice president of sales and marketing at Leopard Solutions, said the findings track what they have been seeing in previous surveys of women lawyers.

“Certainly a work-life balance is still a major concern for women in law. That’s a big one. Remote work is of interest. A lot of these things aren’t really that surprising,” he said. “What we are seeing is the need for the interest in more face time, more opportunities for business development and more opportunities for growth within the firm, and also the ability to talk to clients.”

The Challenges of Women in Big Law report notes that women who leave the Am Law 200 return at a much lower rate than men, with just 27 women returning to Big Law for every 73 men in 2022.

The survey of women in the An Law 200 was conducted between Jan. 27 and March 23, and respondents were concentrated in New York, California, Texas, Washington, D.C., and internationally. Among respondents, 78% were between age 25 and 35 and 21% were between 35 and 44. The group included 66% mid-level associates and 22% senior associates, and 73% were white, 12% Asian and 15% other.

Flora said the survey was aimed at associates nearing partnership.

As for their career goals when joining their firm, more than 70% said they expected to get experience working for corporate clients and then go in-house, while fewer than half expected to make partner. But 40% said their goals changed after joining the firm, for reasons such as not getting enough support from their firm for working moms, long hours, work stress, billable-hour requirements and too little time off after childbirth. They also said “toxicity and harassment” were problems at their firms.

On the other hand, the 60% who said their goals had stayed the same “shared that they got more support from their firms and that their work was more streamlined.”

The women who participated in the survey said they are looking for remote work, work-life balance and mentorship.

”[T]he data shows what women are most frustrated about—lack of mentorship, indicating the need for firms to provide a career path for women in their firms,” the report states. “I.e., guidance and career advice before remote work and flex time, indicating the need for firms to provide a career path for women in their firms.”

The women were most frustrated with the lack of work-life balance, and more than 80% said the most compelling reason to leave their firm would be to move to a job with a better balance. In comparison, more than 40% said they would move for higher compensation.

While 78% reported that partners at their firm totally or somewhat valued their work, only 26% agreed that the work at their firm was fairly allocated.

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Leopard Strategies wrote that firms can address the concerns of women lawyers by allowing them to “speak and amplify their voices,” maintain a zero-tolerance policy for sexism, racism and unconscious biases, take steps to ensure women receive the same opportunities as men and offer equal paternity leave, which would ease the burden on women lawyers.